


Twist in the Path

by HASA_Archivist



Category: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: 3rd Age - The Stewards, Chapters One through Five are rated G. Six and all others following will be going downhill fast (but, Drama, I am going to keep this as low-key as possible, hence the deletion of my previous chapter six).
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-27
Updated: 2007-07-18
Packaged: 2018-04-06 10:16:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4217763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HASA_Archivist/pseuds/HASA_Archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Or, Why Bilbo Wasn't Caught.  AU.  If Bilbo had been found in Thranduil's palace, what might have happened?  Here's one version.<br/><br/>WARNING: Chapters One through Five are rated G.  Six and all others following will be going downhill fast (but, I am going to keep this as low-key as possible, hence the deletion of my previous chapter six).<br/><br/>Eventually, all the little chapters are going to grow up and become REALLY BIG chapters.  However, this will only happen after all the little chapters are done coming into being.  This may take a while.  Just so you know.<br/><br/>(Also, I am aware that my Elvish is probably very bad.  If you can correct me, please do.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Caught

**Author's Note:**

> Note from the HASA Transition Team: This story was originally archived at [HASA](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Henneth_Ann%C3%BBn_Story_Archive), which closed in February 2015. To preserve the archive, we began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in February 2015. We posted announcements about the move, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this author, please contact The HASA Transition Team using the e-mail address on the [HASA collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/hasa/profile).

**Bilbo pressed himself into an empty doorway with a silent sigh.** _I feel like a burglar who can't get away, but must keep on miserably burglaring the same house day after day!_ he thought dejectedly as three more Elves went by. There were some Quenya words that he could pick out, but most of it was in Sindarin. They didn't speak Sindarin in Rivendell.  
    _Ah, Rivendell_. For a few blissful moments, Bilbo was wrapped in the pleasant dream of the city of the Elves ... where no one interrupted him ... where the singing was as good as the food ...   
   The euphoria evaporated like a drop of water under the desert sun as another Elf came from the other direction, heading straight for the doorway in which he huddled. Bilbo looked frantically for an escape, scrambling away from the door. Stepping on a board, it squealed loudly, snapping the Elf's head in his direction. Bilbo took another running step, but was tackled before he could do anymore.  
    Bilbo struggled under the surprisingly heavy body. " _Daro, Morainu!_ " the Elf hissed. "Daro moving, Morainu!"  
    The air was being pushed from the Hobbit's lungs. He pulled for breath, then squeaked, "Get ... off!"  
    The pressure let up a little. Air and life re-entered as Bilbo inhaled deeply.  
   "What are you? Not a Morainu, I think."  
   "What's a mor-ayenoo, and I'll tell you," the Hobbit replied, irritated.  
    "If you were a Morainu, you would not breathe," mused the Elf. "Yet you are not seen." Bilbo remained silent.  
    "You have some form that can be felt," the Elf continued. His dark hair swirled around his shoulders. He grabbed a piece of the person he could not see and rolled off. Bilbo stood slowly, his right shoulder in the now-kneeling Elf's hand. "This is your shoulder, yes?" the Elf said, feeling what he held with both hands, trying to fathom the smallness of the invisible person. His Common was heavily accented, his grey eyes cautious yet curious.  
    "Yes," said Bilbo unwillingly.  
    The Elf heard very well where the voice came from, grabbing next a handful of the Hobbit's curly hair, making him yelp.  
    "That's my _hair!_ " he cried, standing on tiptoe to alleviate the tension.  
    "Apologies," murmured the Elf. He loosened his grip, judging the Hobbit's height to be about three feet. "What are you?" he asked. "What is four spans in height? You have no voice of a Dwarf."  
    "I am a Hobbit," said Bilbo proudly.  
    "Hob-bit," repeated the Elf. "Is a hob-bit an Ainu?"  
    "What's an aye-noo? Or a mor-aye-noo, for that matter."  
    "An Ainu is a powerful being. A Morainu is evil powerful being." The Elf was silent a moment, content to keep his hands firmly on the Hobbit's shoulder while he thought, puzzled and mused. "How are you unseen?" he asked finally. "Is this magic? I do not feel magic, but I do not know."  
    "I don't use magic," Bilbo replied, stalling. How could he tell him about the ring? What would happen if they found it? What would happen to the Dwarves? How he wished to be home!  
    "Strong feeling is in you," murmured the Elf, startling the Hobbit. "It stirs, and stirs, and stirs. What stirs it?"  
    "Nothing!" cried Bilbo quickly.  
    "I think not," said the Elf, almost to himself. "Come. I will take you to the King." He stood.  
    Bilbo didn't know what would happen if the ring was found, but he had a very strong suspicion that it wouldn't be anything good. "No!" Bilbo pulled his shoulder with all his might, but could not wrench it from the Elf's iron grasp.  
   "Come," repeated the Elf, more firmly than before. When Bilbo continued to struggle, he uttered a few words in the mix of Quenya and Sindarin that he spoke and Bilbo slid to the floor, senseless.


	2. Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Or, Why Bilbo Wasn't Caught. AU. If Bilbo had been found in Thranduil's palace, what might have happened? Here's one version.

    **"He awakes."**  
   Bilbo had the uncomfortable feeling that the voices he had heard indistinctly before were now talking about him. He opened his eyes and saw two slightly blurry Elves above him. When the Hobbit lifted his hands to rub his eyes, he found they were tied together. Rubbing his face, he missed the smooth feel of the ring on his right hand's first finger and yanked his hands away, opening his eyes quickly. As he feared, the ring was not on his finger. He looked up at the Elves, anger and fear at war.  
    The dark-haired, grey-eyed Elf of before was there, and it was he who held up the golden ring on a thin and lovely silver chain. "You have a ... an interesting way of being unseen," he remarked coolly. "I have not heard of such a way before."  
    The other Elf was also dark haired, but had dark blue eyes instead of grey. "Who are you, hob-bit? What is this ring?"  
    Bilbo almost told them who he was, but when the Elf asked what the ring was, he snapped his mouth shut. It was his ring, but that wasn't the kind of explanation that would satisfy them.  
    "Ah! stubborn. Like a Dwarf," muttered the blue-eyed Elf. The latter phrase he spoke like an insult.  
    "I am no Dwarf," objected Bilbo. "My friends may be, but as for me -- " He suddenly realized that he might have just sent himself to jail and shut his mouth again.  
    "Ah!" said Blue-eyes again. "You have Dwarves for friends, then?" The expression in Bilbo's eyes was as much answer as he needed. "This changes some things, does it not, brother?" he remarked to the Elf who found Bilbo.  
    " _Ta thenin, gwador-nin,_ " the first Elf replied, nodding. "No more are they thirteen, if this hob-bit is a member of their party."  
    Bilbo watched in silence as they conversed quietly for a minute in Sindarin. They seemed to reach a decision and grasped forearms, murmuring words of parting. The one with blue eyes left, piercing Bilbo with a glance just before the door shut. The first Elf turned back to Bilbo and mock-bowed.  
   "Legolas Thranduilion, hob-bit, Prince of Mirkwood."  
    Bilbo winced. The son of the King of Mirkwood held _his_ ring in his hand.  
    "What is your name, hob-bit?"  
    "Stop saying it like that!" Bilbo grumbled. "It's not hob-bit, it's Hobbit!"  
    "What is your name?" repeated Legolas sternly.  
    "Bilbo Baggins," said Bilbo, a little sullenly.  
    "Bil-bo Bag-gins." Legolas said the name carefully, with the air of a connoisseur. "Strange name. Where are you from, Bil-bo?"  
    "It's one word," muttered Bilbo. "No dash."  
    "Where -- are -- you -- from?"  
    "The Shire, if you must know. I am a friend of Gandalf the Grey."  
    " _Mithrandir!_ "  
    Bilbo thought it was an ejaculation until he remembered Gandalf being addressed by that name (or something like it) in Rivendell. He nodded a little.  
    "You know Mithrandir?" Legolas looked very surprised a moment, before obviously recovering himself. "Yes, ah ... where is the -- Shire, you said?"  
    "Yes, the Shire."  
    "Where?"  
    Bilbo gestured vaguely. "West, past Rivendell."  
    Legolas paused to think. "Friend of Mithrandir," he said musingly. "Friend. Where were you headed?" he asked abruptly.  
    "For -- " Bilbo almost said it. It was on the tip of his tongue. Fortunately, he remembered in time that the Dwarves had not told either and that they must have had a reason for telling. Again, he snapped his mouth shut.  
    "For?" prodded Legolas.  
    Bilbo said nothing.  
    Legolas sighed. "You are a curious person, Bilbo Baggins. Since you will not tell us where you and your Dwarf friends were going, I must tell you that none of your party will be arriving there anytime soon."  
    Bilbo swallowed. If he didn't tell, they would all be locked away in the King's dungeons, perhaps for the rest of their lives. On the other hand, if he did tell, who knew what would happen?


	3. The Report

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Or, Why Bilbo Wasn't Caught. AU. If Bilbo had been found in Thranduil's palace, what might have happened? Here's one version.

    **"So what have you found out from the ... friend of the Dwarves?"** Thranduil leaned forward, resting his hands on the carved armrests of his oaken throne. His eyes shifted slowly from one son to the other.  
    "Not much, _Adar_ ," answered Legolas. "His name is Bilbo Baggins; he is a friend of Mithrandir; he is a Hobbit, who lives in a place called the Shire, which is west past _Imladris_."  
    "Mmhmm."  
    "And he appears attached to the ring that was in his possession, the one that makes you invisible," added the other son, the one with blue eyes, named Elnen.  
   Thranduil's eyes narrowed. "Invisible," he murmured. "Where is this ring now?"  
    "Here, my King," said Legolas, bringing the chain out of his pocket.  
    "A powerful ring," mused Thranduil, taking it. "One of the Great Rings?" He rolled the golden circlet around in his hand a moment, weighing it. Suddenly he looked at his two sons. "Has either of you put it on?" he asked sharply.  
    Legolas shifted his feet, though his gaze did not waver. "I have, my lord."  
    The King only said "Ah!", but it sounded like a scolding.  
    "I only wished to see if it was the ring that made him disappear," clarified the Elf. "It was only on for a moment."  
    "Ah!" said Thranduil again. He sounded forgiving, but he gave his son a quick look that said clearly, _Don't do that again._  
    Legolas answered with his eyes, _I won't, Father._  
    Continuing to roll the ring in his hands, Thranduil thought for a long minute. "Send for the members of the council," he said finally. "We will discuss what we will do with this ring." He tossed it gently, and the three of them watched as it glinted and whirled in the torchlight before Legolas' hand closed around it. "Put it somewhere safe," he exhorted.  
    "Yes, Father," answered Legolas, putting it back in his pocket.  
    As they left the throne room, Elnen said, "Can I see it? Just for a second, before you hide it somewhere."  
    Legolas hesitated for a moment, but he also wanted to see it again, so he took it out. It laid in his palm, winking at them, silver chain gleaming.  
    Unconsciously, Elnen put out a hand to touch the gold. Legolas shut his hand quickly and drew it back. "You just wanted to see it," he protested.  
    Elnen's face clouded. " _Pe-channas!_ I would not harm it!" he said coldly.  
    Something in Legolas struggled, but he opened his hand again. " _Goheno nin_ ," he muttered. "I don't know what came over me."  
    Elnen, pacified, ran a finger over its smooth surface. "So bright," he murmured. "Beautiful."  
    Legolas suddenly lifted his head and closed his hand. "Sh! did you hear that?" he asked quickly. Elnen looked up too, listening. Someone was coming. Elnen hurried down the hall one way, and Legolas, pocketing the ring, went the other.  
    _Where is somewhere safe?_ wondered the Elf. Without thinking, he put his hand in his pocket and held it protectively over the ring.


	4. Enter the Wizard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Or, Why Bilbo Wasn't Caught. AU. If Bilbo had been found in Thranduil's palace, what might have happened? Here's one version.

**A loud knock sounded at the door.** "Enter!" called Thranduil. A page slipped in, shutting the door after him. He bowed stiffly.  
    "If you please," he said ceremoniously, "Saruman the White is here."  
    "Good," said Thranduil. "See that his horse is well taken care of, and have him shown in."  
    "Aye, sire," the page responded. He bowed again and slipped out. A moment later both doors opened grandly, and a tall figure in long white robes appeared in the doorway. Thranduil stood and bowed himself, hand over heart.  
    "Thank you for coming on such short notice, my lord," the King of Mirkwood said respectfully. He came down the steps from his throne as the throne-room doors _boomed_ shut. "My council wrestled long and hard and could only think of sending for yourself, in hopes you would be able to answer our riddle. I hope your trip was in fine weather?"  
    "Terrible weather," the wizard replied shortly in a voice that filled the room. "But there are more important things to be thought of. Come, where is the ring?"  
    "Here, my lord," said Legolas, stepping forward. His hand opened like a flower. The ring lay in the middle of his palm, brightly polished. The mithril chain on which it was strung seemed pale and dull in comparison. Before the young Elf could have any odd doubts about letting Saruman handle the ring, the wizard's hand snaked out and his long fingers snatched the chain. Bringing it in close, he inspected the golden circle intently.  
    "It makes one disappear?" he asked in the same manner as before. At the affirmative, he said, "And what else have you discovered?"  
    "Nothing, my lord," said Thranduil, sounding a little surprised (and a little nettled). "We judged it folly to handle such a powerful ring when we were not aware of its properties."  
    Saruman murmured something to himself. Legolas thought he caught the words "silly, ignorant Elves" and stiffened. It was with an effort he held his tongue.  
    "There is nothing curious or different in its size or shape," the wizard said in a thoughtful voice, "yet there is something lovely about it." He turned suddenly and walked briskly across the room, towards one of the torches that was ensconced on the wall. Legolas moved to step forward, about to speak. Elnen put a forearm across his chest, and gave a quieting look when Legolas glared at him. However, Elnen also nearly said something when Saruman held the ring almost in the fire.  
    Thranduil had no such bar. "My lord, what are you doing?" he asked quickly, hurrying his steps over. His brows were knit in confusion and concern.  
    "I am seeing something," said Saruman sharply. Thranduil stopped a few feet away, confused and a little more nettled than before. A few moments crawled by, and then Saruman said, "A-ha!"  
    "What?" asked three Elvish voices. Thranduil and Elnen were confused and curious; Legolas was demanding. Thranduil and Elnen both turned to look at him for a moment in surprise. Legolas' grey eyes snapped in anger, and ... worry? The King and his elder son exchanged a glance before turning back to the leader of the White Council.  
    Saruman was concealing the ring in one long-fingered hand. "I now know what ring this is," he said. His voice sounded of constrained excitement and his eyes were bright with desire and joy. Thranduil was slightly disturbed to see such a strange expression on the face of someone who he had thought would be calm and neutral.  
    Hiding his annoyance, Thranduil said in forced politeness, "What is it, my lord?"  
    Saruman's face closed. "It does not concern you," he replied, now in a calm voice. Legolas heard a sneer in the words and barely restrained himself from speaking words he would later regret.  
    "I think it does, my lord," said Thranduil, now more openly irritated. "We were the ones who found the ring, and the bearer of it. We have held fourteen captives in my dungeon, in case you were interested in them. We have left this ring untouched so that you might readily tell us its nature. Now you would say it is none of our business?"  
    "It is none," Saruman said coldly. "I will take this ring to Isengard, and there -- "  
    Legolas had held himself back long enough. He pushed past his brother's arm and cut off the wizard. "What, my lord? Take the ring? I think not; it does not belong to _you_. Oughtn't you to ask the owner -- "  
    "Owner?" Saruman cut off in his turn. "What makes you the owner of this Ring of Power, Elfling?"  
    Legolas' face flamed. "I didn't say it was mine," he corrected, his tone heated to match his face. "And I am no Elfling."  
    The White Wizard smiled in a condescending way. "Then perhaps you shouldn't act like one by interrupting your elders." Legolas clenched his fists and said nothing. Elnen approached and whispered something in his ear.  
    "I will take this ring to Isengard," continued Saruman as though nothing had happened; "I must study this ring."  
    "I thought you knew what it was," Thranduil said icily. Saruman hid his hand in his clothing and when it again saw the light it was empty. He turned and strode towards the door.  
    "I do," he said without turning around. He offered no more of an explanation. He opened one of the doors and turned back for a moment. "Good day, my good Elves," he said lightly. Legolas heard an insult, saw a mocking smile, and would have shouldered past Elnen had Elnen not tightly wrapped one hand in Legolas' tunic to hold him there. The door shut with a dramatic _boom_.  



	5. Noer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Or, Why Bilbo Wasn't Caught. AU. If Bilbo had been found in Thranduil's palace, what might have happened? Here's one version.

    **Legolas stood in the stable doorway and listened to the White Wizard criticize the stableboy for not rubbing down his horse properly.** He heard an objecting cry as the Wizard cuffed him, and made room for the young Elf to run out of the stable. Saruman exited his horse's stall and saw the Prince standing stiffly in the doorway.  
    "Did you have any problems with the palace staff, my lord?" Legolas asked coldly.  
Saruman frowned at him. "You do not have very skilled stablehands, son of Thranduil," he replied.  
    "I am sorry we have disappointed you," said Legolas. He didn't sound sorry.  
    The Wizard would have startled if he had. "I expected nothing less," he sneered. "You and your kindred, holed up in your caves away from the rest of Middle Earth, cannot be expected to understand anything of gentility or manners."  
   Legolas was enraged. He could not speak. His hands were clenched so tightly his fingernails were digging into his palms, but he hardly noticed. Before he knew what he was doing, he took a step forward and one fist drew back. Saruman's sneering smirk froze on his face, then melted into spite. He brought up a hand of his own, spoke one word, and Legolas flew backwards into one of the doorposts.  
    Hitting the floor, he rolled back onto his feet. Shaking his ringing head, Legolas stood slowly as Saruman chuckled humorlessly. " 't is pointless," he told Legolas in an even tone. "I am a Wizard."  
    "And I," said Legolas in a low voice, "am not letting you out of this stable until I regain my lost property." He closed the door behind him with his foot.  



	6. Smoke and Ash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Or, Why Bilbo Wasn't Caught. AU. If Bilbo had been found in Thranduil's palace, what might have happened? Here's one version.

   " ** _Noro lim!_** _Noro lim!_ " Legolas' voice was hoarse from smoke and choked from strong emotion, a far cry from what it ought to have been. From astride his galloping horse, the fleeing Elf chanced a look back. He didn't like what he saw.  
    Behind him, the stable was on fire from the ground to the roof. A rescue effort was on-going for the salvation of the horses within, while a bucket brigade tried valiently to save the stable. Every bucketful struck the greedy fire with a hiss, but nothing seemed to deter the flames. They seemed almost to burn the more fiercely for it.  
    "It shan't work," whispered Legolas to the horse beneath him. "He cast the spell ... the fire spell. It shan't stop until the stable is smoke and ash."  
    The jumpy horse seemed to respond with a sudden leap over a fallen log. Legolas returned to the front, torn. He reined the frantic animal in at the top of a small rise and tied it to a tree while he climbed to its top.  
    At its summit, he looked towards the palace. A smudge of black smoke rose from the mountain's base. The stable would be nearly burnt to the ground by now. Legolas ducked his head, ashamed of what had happened in that stable. While glad it was no longer standing, he grieved for all that it meant. He could never again face his father. Never again go home. Never again walk among Elves without shame. Tears slipped down his cheeks as he felt his way, blindly, back down the tree.  
   He rested his head against the horse at the bottom which had almost recovered its breath. Sensing his grief, the black and grey horse nudged his side and nickered softly. Legolas stroked the stallion's face as he tried to remember its name.  
    "Rhosso?" he asked. The stallion's ears pricked forward. Legolas smiled faintly. "Well, Rhosso, I hope we shall not need often to ride that fast, eh?" Rhosso whickered in agreement. The Elf swung onto his back. "Then we shall ride slowly for a time. And well away from the Road. _Sedho, mellon nîn, an ngell nîn._ "  
    As asked, Rhosso began to walk quietly through the woods. The darkness of the forest seemed to oppress the soul and body. The smell of burning wood permeated slowly through the still air.


	7. Author's Notes/Elvish translations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Or, Why Bilbo Wasn't Caught. AU. If Bilbo had been found in Thranduil's palace, what might have happened? Here's one version.

A/N

Well, I started it, anyway.  My probably-going-to-be-huge AU "What if [X] took the Ring?" version with Legolas.

Also, the first story for which I actually wrote notes ... and followed them.

Just in case anyone was wondering (which they probably weren't): the word "ring" isn't capitalized in the first few chapters when referring to the One Ring because the people referring to it aren't aware/certain that it _is_ a Ring of Power.  I don't think Bilbo knew about the Rings of Power, but even if he did, to quote Gandalf "there are many magic rings in this world".

~ 

Author's thanks (even though it isn't finished yet):

Firstly, to God, Who gives inspiration.  Please help me make this have a point.  


Thanks to J. R. R. Tolkien, for writing the wonderful books

Thanks to Christopher Tolkien, for giving permission to make the wonderful movies.

Thanks to my sister 'Arin', for her support in putting up with my travels into the (better left) untraveled regions of space and Arda. 

Thanks to my Ada, who's proofread and pointed out when I crossed the line without being mean about it.  


 ~

Elvish

(I thought it might look better to have all my Elvish in one spot) 

Daro: stop [lit. halt]

Ta thenin, gwador-nin: that is true, my brother

Adar: Father

Imladris: Rivendell 

Pe-channas!: idiot [lit. lacking intelligence] 

Goheno nin: Forgive me

Noer: flames

Noro lim: Run fast

Sedho, mellon nîn, an ngell nîn: Quiet, my friend, please [lit. for my joy]. 


End file.
